The Final Moment
by Silver-SoulSlayer
Summary: An alternate ending to MegaMan Zero 4, Ciel goes to the crashsite of a Ragnarok Fragment to find a severely damaged Zero who she takes to Area Zero's forest to have a final moment and say her goodbyes. T for character death and blood. Slight ZeroxCiel


Hello everyone, I was inspired to write this by the ending of Mega Man Zero 4. It sorta is to give Ciel at least a bit of closure to the fate of the crimson warrior. A warning though, the scenery of the final moment is changed due to the nature of the fic. Please read and enjoy.

Goodbye:

In the forest of Area Zero, the settlement of the caravan was currently celebrating with the resistance soldiers over Zero's victory. However; at what cost? The warrior had not returned, not even a message to say he had survived the fateful explosion that resulted as the aftermath of his final clash with the insane Dr. Weil.

Alone in a much deeper part of that forest, Ciel sat on her knees, mourning tearfully the crimson hero's seeming demise. Until something came to her, Zero would not want to see her like this. He would want her to continue on for her dreams; not mourn his passing.

"It was my time to go. You have nothing to blame yourself for." She imagined him telling her. Ciel finally stood; she stood and stared high up into the shining sky, shimmering with the millions of Ragnarok fragments falling from the sky. The moon shone brightly as she wiped away one last tear. She remembered what his last words to her,

"Ciel… Believe in me!" He had said fearlessly as ever, not even showing a hint of fear or doubt that he would not return. The only thing she had done back then was scream back his name, fearful of his death in response.

"Zero… You believed in us… Now it's our turn to show that your faith in us was not misplaced… Watch, Zero… I'll make this world a better place… One where humans and reploids can walk hand in hand, living in peace… Just, come back someday… I… I believe in you!" Ciel looked up at the sky as yet another Ragnarok fragment fell; but she refused to cry. It was her turn to be strong; he had shown her the way. Her eyes suddenly widened in shock, not too far off in the distance, where there wasn't too much nature, but enough to say the least. A small, red colored falling star rained from the heavens, almost apart from all of the Ragnarok fragments and crashed in that small area out in the distance. She knew it was too good to be true, but her heart wouldn't listen to her brains logic; She ran, she ran as fast as she could, hoping what her heart believed to be waiting for her was there…

The next morning, she finally made it to the scene of the crash, she gasped. The small falling star had done more damage then she had expected, but her entire being trembled when she laid eyes upon one thing, and one alone: Zero's helmet. Slowly, she almost forced her legs to take her to the broken object; picking it up in despair and holding it close. She felt the tears threatening to burst forth until she heard it,

"Ciel…" His voice began softly. It was faint, it was broken and filled with pain, but she knew who the speaker of the voice was.

"Zero!" She almost cried overjoyed. He revealed himself to her; she gasped in response. It was mixed feelings of joy and sorrow, and Zero could see it plainly in her eyes. He was missing his right arm, similar to the day they met, with his helmet gone, it was revealed that he indeed had long blonde hair with bangs that stopped just above his eyes. His white belt like piece had been blown away leaving him with the singed and torn straight down the middle red jacket, singed armguards and boots, and his black jumpsuit which also showed several singe marks. The place where his missing joint had been was bleeding profusely; how he was still alive was a mystery to her. The Z-Saber, his most trusted weapon, was still however gripped tightly in the hand of his left arm, which was now his only arm.

He walked to her, limping as he walked, trying to keep himself together; his internal systems were already shut down; he didn't have much time left. Ciel met him at half distance, almost half dashing to him, catching him with a surprisingly fast reflex as he collapsed into her arms. She quickly hoisted him unto her shoulder, grabbed his helmet from the ground, and she began to walk; she knew he didn't have much time left, so she was going to at least make his final sights, a more peaceful one…

When they reached the forest, she laid his head to rest on her knees as they sat under the shade of a very large tree, the rustling of the other trees could be heard within the gentle wind. The sky was still blue in the daylight, as Zero rested. Finally, he spoke.

"You know I don't have much time left… don't you?" He asked softly, Ciel was taken aback by his unusually almost sad voice. She nodded in response as he looked up around at his surroundings.

"Ciel… Thanks; for everything… It was thanks to you that I could finally bring the peace that X and I fought for so long ago…" Ciel smiled and shook her head.

"No, it is I who should be thanking you Zero. You've saved us all and yes, brought humans and reploids together at last. With the Ciel System complete, I hope to make this world a better place. I won't give up; ever." Zero smiled as he looked up into the sky; it began to shine with a blinding white light. From it, a blue light with shining white wings came from the heavens. It materialized to reveal to be the cyber elf form of X.

"_Mission accomplished… Time to go; Zero."_ He said happily. Zero smiled happily and then looked at Ciel one last time, fear was evident in her eyes as they both looked down to his feet; he was fading away and rapidly at that. He sighed sadly, and held the Z-Saber out in front of her with his one hand. She eyed it worriedly as she gently took it from him.

"Why..?" She asked as he looked up to her; his readiness was so obvious it killed her a little inside.

"My… Power core was damaged in the fight; however my mission here Ciel is over. Peace shall finally come to humans and reploids. So hopefully, it shall remain this way. I've… given the last of its power to the Z-Saber. It shall be able to function for all eternity without a reploid's energy. It… shall be my living legacy…"

"Zero!" Ciel managed to force out; the tears began to pour from her eyes. His body was now already gone from the feet all the way up to his chest. He used his single arm, and some help from Ciel to embrace her, just this one time before he'd be gone forever.

"Goodbye… Ciel…" Those were his final words as he finally faded from her human eyes. Her arms now loose with his disappearance. This was it. Zero; the crimson hero, was no more.

His spirit stood in the form of a red cyber elf, as he stood alongside X watching her breakdown, holding onto the saber for dear life. It was all she had left of him.

"_It's time to go… Zero."_ X reminded solemnly as he looked away, obviously feeling terrible for Ciel's loss. Zero shook his head filled with guilt as he followed him,

"_Yeah…" _He looked at her one last time before the light engulfed he and X both, taking them from our world, to a better place beyond.

"_Goodbye, Ciel…"_ Those were once more, his final words. Ciel looked up from her tears. She knew she heard him. She looked down to the Z-Saber and his helmet smiled at them both; hooking up the Z-Saber to her belt and placing Zero's helmet at the stump of the tree they shared their final moment at, she continued on her way through the forest to her friends and comrades; now ready to keep the promise she had made to her most dear and cherished friend, and the man she loved.

"Goodbye… Zero." She finally said with a brave smile and tear stricken face as the wind blew gently once more, and a light drizzle occurred, slightly mixing with her tears, almost as if to answer for her, that he had heard her say goodbye…

Author's Notes:

I know, not much better of an ending, but I felt it wrong to violate the true meaning of the ending, in the fact that it truly was the time where he had indeed made his last stand and died. I just figured it would have been better this way if Ciel had actually gotten the chance to say goodbye at least. I hope you enjoyed the story.


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